Lost in Blue 2 Hands-on

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Now with 35% more goat milking.

By Mark Bozon

Ever wondered what it was like to be stranded on a desert island? We did, and then we played Survival Kids on Game Boy Color back in 1999. Strangely enough, we liked it. We wanted more, but we never got it. Then the DS came along, and Konami decided that the world was due for another busted cruise ship, and back we were in Lost in Blue; the unofficial sequel to Survival Kids. The game played nearly identical to the older version, with more activities, a second character to watch over, and a crisp new 3D look. Again we had a blast, traversing the island in a truly epic life-saving adventure. Apparently Lost in Blue made a bit of a splash (shipwreck pun definitely intended) in the DS community, and Konami was taking notes, as we're now treated to Lost in Blue 2.

Before getting too far into the game, let's get this out in the open straight-away: Lost in Blue 2 is definitely, undeniably, shamelessly "more of the same" when compared to the original. You run around on what looks like the same island, you eat the same coconuts, you scrape your fingers through the same dirt, and you'll combine stick with rock to make the same sharpened stick just like Lost in Blue. That being said, the game follows a different story arch, follows two new characters (each playable depending on who you select from the beginning), offers multiple endings, more activities, more action, and more freedom. It's more of the same, but the "same" is still really fun.

For anyone who didn't pick up the original, the concept of the Survival Kids/Lost in Blue series is pretty simple. You'll select your player, wake up on an island alone, and have to survive on your own until you make it off the island or are rescued. To survive you'll need to gather supplies, build fires, cook food, hunt animals, combine materials to make tools, and work with your AI counter-part to explore and ultimately conquer the island. Imagine it as the TV show Lost, but you don't have hotties running around in bikinis, and Hurley isn't eating all your freaking peanut butter all the time. When you look at it that way, it sounds more like a vacation.

Just like the original games, you'll constantly have to be upping three major stats, consisting of hunger, thirst, and strength. Spend too long in the sun and you'll get thirsty. Eat the wrong berries (which we'll playfully dub as "Pulling a Ralph Wiggum") and you'll get sick and lose strength. When it comes to hunting and building, you'll have to find items and combine them similar to a Resident Evil game, although the process feels far more free-form than the simple "gun + bullet = zombie death" ends up being. In addition, you'll need to build weapons to hunt with, including sharp sticks, bow & arrow, and if you're especially talented some sort of death-laser (no). Once you spend a few grueling days learning the ropes, you'll be expected to use creativity, speed, and common sense to solve puzzles and thrive on the island.

From what we played at Konami's Gamers' Day event, Lost in Blue 2 might as well have been the same exact game. The only major differences in the current build is the added character portraits from the top screen (instead of silhouettes you get actual pictures of the characters), some improved activities such as fishing, and a couple mini-games. The three mini-games available thus far include fire-starting, goat-milking, and fishing. Each of these games could be played with multiple time limits for an overall score, and will ultimately be featured as a couple of the multiplayer mini-games for the final version. As always, goat-milking was an uncomfortable blast.

For the final version, Konami has thrown out some rough estimates based on the game's current production. The company promises far more action, about double the activities, new challenges including underwater exploration, and a lot more animal-based adventures. There are more beasts to hunt, tougher enemies (such as sharks and alligators), and some interesting microphone puzzles, such as an event where you need to become friends with a testy gorilla by mimicking his grunts with the DS microphone. In any other game we'd be astonished, but when it comes to Lost in Blue we'll just take it in stride. Hey at least we don't have to milk it.

It's still far too early in production to say whether or not Lost in Blue 2 is going to incorporate enough new content to warrant a second purchase on DS, but from the looks of it the game should include a decent amount of action for the single player experience, and hopefully will add a ton of mini-games for the multiplayer action as well. Unfortunately there's no online support for two players, which sucks, as it would be kind of funny and ironic to play this game over the net with some dude that's actually stuck on an island himself, but there's always hope for a Lost in Blue 3 or Wii sequel that could better make use of Nintendo's online options.

We'll keep you posted on new Lost in Blue 2 information as it becomes available. In the meantime, be sure to check out new images and direct-feed video from the Konami Gamer's Day event below.